Foto: AFP
The UN refugee agency says it needs guarantees of security from insurgents in Somalia before it can provide assistance at the level required in the drought-ravaged country.
A spokesman Adrian Edwards told VOA Tuesday that the agency should have "a reasonable level of security" before stepping up efforts to aid the distribution of the Somali people.
Edwards said that at present, the agency must "not self-effacing" and works through partners in order not to become targets of al-Shabab militants and other armed groups.
Earlier this month, al-Shabab said the organization welcomes the return of aid, after banning them from strongholds in central and southern Somalia more than a year ago.
Although there are access problems, refugee agency said Tuesday that it had succeeded in distributing relief packages to about 90,000 people in the capital, Mogadishu, and the towns in southwestern Somalia.
The agency also provides non-food assistance to approximately 126,000 people in the Gedo and Lower Juba.
Severe drought and food shortages have triggered a mass exodus of Somalis into refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia solid. Many died along the way or soon after arrival.
Strive UN Security Guarantee Agency of Somalia Rebels
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